Thursday, January 4, 2018

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep at Night

Happy New Year! When your a busy mom of 3 kids under the age of 4, there never seems to be enough hours in a day for everything you want to get done.

If there is one thing I have noticed above all, that has a direct effect on your efficiency and energy as a mom - a solid 6 - 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep.

Now you are probably wondering how in the world can you manage to have an infant that needs to be fed every 3 hours, sleep through the night. Here are my solid top ten tips on how I got my twin girls sleeping thru the night at 3 months of age. I recommend doing all things together, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Top Ten Baby Sleep Tips

1. Black out shades on the windows where the baby sleeps. We got ours at Ikea and they worked perfectly.

2. Aromatherapy. A diffuser with a calming oil. We purchased ours from Escents and use the rain scent.

3. Sound machine, with music and white noise. I found the classical music helps to get the twins to sleep. Then I switch over to the white noise, which helps to keep them sleeping.

4. Dream feed by feeding slightly more before bed. This helps keep baby full through the night and they are less likely to wake up for that 3am feed.

5. Dr. Brown bottles helped with gas, which used to keep baby up and crying.

6. Make sure your baby is not sensitive to lactose. I noticed that one of my girls had a larger than normal belly and was crying often. A nutritionist suggested a whey based formula with probiotics and she went from crying all night, to sleeping soundly.

7. Check the diaper. Even a little streak, will have them crying all night.

8. Make sure they burp. Gas in the belly will keep your baby awake.

9. Keep them awake and engaged during the day. Cat naps are fine, but long hours sleeping will cause them to be very alert at night.

10. Make sure baby does not suffer from reflux. If your baby does have reflux, try the Serta baby incliner for cribs (we bought two because we needed a steeper incline). It will help keep baby at an incline and helping with keeping the reflux at bay. Our twin girl suffered from reflux and had to be medicated in order to not spit up and possibly aspirate. Baby Zantac worked well, and I am happy to report that she no longer needs the medication, as the reflux seems to have cleared up on its own around 6 months.